Every Dog Has Her Day

I felt like Super Mommy today, offering lots of interesting experiences and surviving all the ups and downs with great patience. I should've asked to borrow my friend J's Halloween costume complete with cape! We had a grand day. Mostly. But I'm going to skip those bad bits since I'm writing this blog. The truth is all relative, of course. And if I'm a superhero, this is my mythology.

First off, we skipped storytime because the kids wanted to stay home to play. Considering we're going to be out all weekend, and have traveled a lot recently, I thought this was fine.

We lined up the little chairs and played train. Numerous times we bounced our way along--DD said we were going to a party--and then "de-trained" with our bags of party supplies, food and musical instruments. We did our exercises. Listened to Zydeco, our favorite type of music right now, the Laurie Berkner concert notwithstanding. Watched a few of our favorite Dora the Explorer and Thomas the Train episodes. Ate green grapes (hooray!), bananas (BA-NA-NAS!), and corn chips (yay!). And two whole bags of mixed vegetables. Full of snacks and lunch, we headed to the grocery store where we rode in the special car cart and searched for items on my list.

AND WE NAPPED IN THE CAR FOR AN HOUR!!!!

We even went for a walk, which is a recent addition to our schedules. We used to ride in the wagon but haven't done much walking outside recently because the kiddos haven't been sticking together well. So, we've been practicing walking in the neighborhood, picking up leaves and looking around. Today we even ran into a neighbor and went inside for a bit to visit her family. DD was scared of the big English Mastiff but liked sitting in the daughter's wheelchair (at her invitation). When it came time for DS's turn, DD insisted that he buckle up "so he can be safe" (guess what tv show that's from.). Afterwards, we played in our backyard. They like playing pirate ship from the playset with the new "spotting scope" and steering wheel my folks installed. DD spots dolphins orcas, and the like, while DS drives. Then they colored the deck with chalk

But the best part was art in the afternoon. DD spent a long time painting. She did 10-12 sheets of paper, carefully narrating what she was painting. My favorite was what I will call the transportation painting. She started with two colorful blobs, a yellow one for the train and a brown one for the boat. The she added lines--the way to church, the way to Target, the way to school. There were also lines for the sky and then blobs for clouds. I was amazed. And luckily it was the one painting on the last sheet of good watercolor paper.

To finish our arts and crafts time, we made the bathtub crayons that were featured in the recent Parent and Child. After much coaching not to eat the ingredients (I had made the mistake of calling it a recipe). we stirred pink, yellow, green, and blue paste and poured it into an egg carton to harden. We won't know for a few days if it works, but until then, I'll polish my Super Mommy crown.

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Bathtub Crayons

1 cup gentle soap powder (I used Ivory Flakes)
4-6 drops food coloring
2-3 teaspoons water

Stir until you have a pasty consistency. Spoon the mixture into an ice cube tray (we used an old egg carton; I've also read that people use toilet paper rolls) and let it dry for about four days in a sunny spot. Use in the tub.

Parent and Child